I groaned. Taylor might love Dancey, and he might love her back, but neither would be willing to hurt Bigley if he wasn’t uncovered as the player that he was. I readjusted the phone against my ear. “I’m thinking Taylor might’ve had something to do with hiring them.”
Austen gave a little laugh. “The bachelor party’s a bust. I don’t even see Crawley—he’s wandered off somewhere.”
My neck prickled and I turned to make sure he wasn’t standing behind me. He was the last thing I wanted to deal with tonight.
“I see Dancey,” Austen said. “I’m going to send him to the rendezvous spot, all right? You just find a reason to get Taylor to leave the party.”
I took the challenge and clicked off the phone. Taylor was talking with her bridesmaids by the hot tub. The ladies dangled their matching manicured feet into the water. Taylor sat down and edged her legs in with theirs. Bertie sat a head taller than the group, her hand clutched tightly to her muff of a dog. I was afraid of getting close just because she’d stuff the rat-bear in my hands. Ann-Marie wasn’t nearby to take the brunt.
Bella looked glorious, as usual, in her florescent-pink bathing suit. She swung her mane of shining hair against her back. Her lips were set in a pout that hadn’t been there at the club yesterday. Mary sniffed but didn’t have a tissue. It was dangerous to get close to any of them, but I had a mission to accomplish.
“Are you talking about my car?” I overheard Bertie ask as I walked closer. “Oh, please. It was a gift. My father has no sense. It’s only a Chrysler Mercedes knockoff. All looks and no drive.”
“Your father spoils you,” Taylor said.
Bertie tittered. “You can’t expect my husband to do it all. He can’t tie his own shoelaces without tripping.”
Taylor didn’t look amused. “It’s surprising you even got married if you feel that way about him, Bertie.”
Bertie thrust her finger out so that her diamond glittered under the lights. “All men are the same, honey. You give them what they want and they give you everything you want.”
Mary stared enviously at Bertie’s ring. “Your husband does make a lot of money.”
“Please,” Bertie said, “not enough for me.”
“Good thing you love him so much,” Taylor said pointedly.
“And you know so much about love, Taylor?” Bertie narrowed her eyes at her. “Chuck doesn’t give you many gifts. But Dancey … he’ll perform for your party. I didn’t see that one coming. Does he have a crush on you?”
“That was Jane’s doing,” Taylor said.
I froze by the table next to them, not sure if I wanted to walk in on this.
“Jane?” Bertie’s lips curled in distaste. “What does any man see in her?”
“Oh no, you don’t,” Bella snapped—the beautiful girl dripped with venom. “No more talking about Jane—she’s not all that, you know. She can’t have all the guys.”
Taylor blinked in confusion. “What guys?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She crossed her arms. “No one can steal a man from me, especially some girl who could stand to lose a few pounds.”
I was shocked that I had turned into the most unpopular girl at the party. All three sets of eyes belonging to Taylor’s bridesmaids turned to dissect me at the table in a decidedly unfriendly gaze. Before I could defend my weight as curvaceous, Bertie’s dog was in my hands. Mary followed up with a medical order. Bella ignored me, with her cute nose pointed in the air.
“Taylor …” I managed to find her in the group, trying to ignore the stinging insults. “Dancey has something he wants to tell you—I think he wants to iron out the details for the performance tonight.”
Taylor reddened when she saw me, but she didn’t move her legs from the hot tub. She gulped a few times. “He’s done this before in front of much bigger audiences. I think he’ll be fine.”
“He won’t sing unless you talk to him—that’s what he said.”
Her mouth gaped open. “Are you serious?” She jerked angrily from the hot tub, her legs dripping across the patio. “Where is he?”
“By the Longburn Lagoon.” Or he very soon would be.
“What? What is he doing there?”
“I don’t know. He said to wait for him while he gathers his things.”
“Oh, honestly.” She wrapped a towel around her legs, her black hair curling against her neck. Her green eyes shone especially bright; I hoped with excitement. “I’ll be back.” She shoved her bare feet into her flip-flops and set off at a brisk pace.
The puppy licked my chin. Before I could text Austen that Taylor was on her way, Bertie’s voice stopped me. “You might have Taylor fooled, but none of us are.”
I glanced over at her distractedly. “What?”
Taylor’s bridesmaids all glared at me. “You’re trying to sabotage this,” Bertie accused. “Aren’t you?”
I stiffened, trying to pull out her meaning before I gave anything away. “Taylor’s bachelorette party?”
“You’re trying to sabotage Taylor’s wedding. Don’t pretend that you don’t have something for Dancey. This is Taylor’s special occasion, and you’re trying to steal all the attention from her.”
I glared. “Don’t I have to lose a few pounds for that?”
Bella paled and refused to meet my eyes.
“Oh, no, no, no.” Mary looked nervous and placed a hand on the skinnier lady’s arm. “Now, Bertie, Jane would never go for Dancey. He’s a big rock star and she’s just a party planner.”
“Um, thanks for that, Mary,” I said, telling myself that she meant well. “You see? So none of you have anything to worry about. I’m only doing my job, girls. I think we can all agree that we want Taylor to be happy for her wedding.”
Bertie gave me a slow, mocking smile. “Then I suggest you get out of her life.”
That was enough. My hands curled into fists. “And leave her to a vulture like you? I don’t think so.” I turned on my heel to put some distance between us to stop myself from doing something I regretted when I heard the loud splashing that signaled Bertie was pulling from the tub to come after me. If I walked away now, it would only look like I was running away from a twig in a bikini. Bella was right. I was a big girl—at least compared to the paper-doll Bertie. Maybe I’d sit on her. I swung around to face her.
“After everything Taylor has done for North Abbey?” Bertie growled out. Her knobby fingers dug into my arm. “It must sting to leave all her hard work behind for you to ruin it all.”
“I’ve worked to get where I am, unlike some people.” I peeled her hands away. “I think North Abbey will be fine. In fact, once you’re gone, we’ll all be very, very happy.”
“That’s until I get you fired.”
“I’m pretty sure that I’d still be happier than any of you. Look at you, glaring and gossiping—so bored of life. How sad for you; your money and looks got you nowhere.”
Mary looked confused. “What is she saying?”
“I don’t know why Taylor puts up with you,” Bertie sputtered. “She’s always been a horrible judge of character.”
“You can say that again,” I said. “By the way, I forgot to tell you. Your daddy sent your adult diapers with your weekly check. We put them on your bed with your mint that you’re going to throw up later tonight.”
I pushed away from her to make good my escape, but now my thoughts were all over the place. That had been an awful, unprofessional thing to say, and I hunched guiltily. I was doing all sorts of crazy things tonight, and I was due for a fall. I did have Taylor’s best interests in mind, didn’t I? Depending on how the cards played in the next few hours, I was about to do the nicest or jerkiest thing that I had ever done in my life … if this worked. Everything centered around “if.” If Taylor was in love with Dancey, if he loved her back, if love was enough to bring them together, if Bigley was as big of a lowlife as we thought he was, if my romantic ideals were right. If. If. If.
Suddenly all of this seemed
much bigger than me. A yipping in my hands made me aware that I had also taken off with Bertie’s dog. Sighing, I tried to find Bertie. I should probably apologize too, but she had stormed off, no doubt to tattle on me to anyone who would listen.
Swinging back around, I ran into Crawley. I backpedaled several steps. He held a microphone. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m proving I’m serious about you.”
“No, no, no, you don’t want to do that.”
Laughing, with his beautiful eyes crinkled up at the sides, Crawley put the mic to his mouth. Lights and music followed the motion. I turned and saw Ann-Marie by the sound system. She stuck her thumb up at me.
Crawley started to sing a rocked-out version of “Poppies,” of all the songs to sing. Dancey had better not hear or he’d leave the meeting spot we’d arranged for Taylor and come here to jerk the mic from his best friend’s brother. The women shrieked out happily and cheered.
I texted an SOS to Austen.
ME: WHAT DO I DO? CRAWLEY’S SERENADING ME!
AUSTEN: MUST BE TRUE LOVE. GO FOR HIM.
I didn’t appreciate his sarcasm. To the side of me, Crawley’s mother clapped and sang along. Bigley’s mother covered her ears. Squaring my shoulders, I tried to sneak away.
Before I could get too far, Freddy hissed into my ear. “I play video games, huh?” I cringed as I came face to face with our resident baggage handler. All Freddy’s bored looks had been wiped from his face, leaving only his accusing glare. “Thanks for smearing my name; now Bella won’t look at me. These manly hands have never touched a controller in my life.”
“Never?” I asked. “You’re really missing out.”
“Real funny, Jane. Maybe I’ll return the favor. Everyone knows that you have it bad for Austen.”
“So does Austen,” I tried to sound flippant. “What are you going to do, tell him?”
He smiled wickedly. “I heard a few things about you.”
Now he had my attention. The best thing to do was to grovel for mercy. “I’m sorry,” I said, but then looking at Bella’s upturned face while she watched Crawley from the crowd, I knew I didn’t feel sorry at all. “Did I ruin your chance to mess with another girl’s head?”
“Not at all. I’ll just mess with yours now.”
Bertie’s puppy shifted in my arms, and I ran my fingers over her furry ears. “Hey, let’s be friends. Take a puppy. We’ll call it good.”
Freddy left me without saying another word. I was a little worried, despite my joking. The problem with having dirty laundry out there was that enemies were more than happy to air it.
Crawley finished up his song and released the mic to Ann-Marie’s waiting hands. He strode towards me. More music rushed through the speakers to replace his singing. At least we weren’t left in awkward silence.
“Great job, Crawley,” I said.
“Harry,” he corrected. “You always call me by my last name, Jane. We’re not football players.”
The closer he got to me, the farther I held Bertie’s puppy out between us. Unfortunately the thing was too small to do much good. Crawley looked down at it. “Wait, is that Pudgy?”
Pudgy? That’s what Bertie named her? If the poor thing even tried a diet, there would be nothing left of the puppy. I brought Bertie’s pet to my chest. “Yeah, Pudgy and I are pretty close now.”
“No, her name’s Puggy. I said ‘Puggy,’ as in Pug—not that there’s an ounce of Pug blood in her. Come here, little girl.” His hands went to me. I froze, and he took the puppy from my hands. He laughed when she went crazy with excitement.
It left my hands with nothing to do. I crossed them across my stomach. “At least her name isn’t ‘little rat-bear.’”
He gave me a complimentary smile. Apparently the joke wasn’t funny to everyone. He kissed the puppy’s head. “You are so adorable.” His eyes were on me.
“That’s what I think, too!” Ann-Marie stuck her face into the puppy’s belly, her red hair in Crawley’s face.
Time was running out. Taylor had to be at Longburn Lagoon by now. I didn’t know if Dancey was there, too, but we needed to lead Jennings over there to take her pictures. I desperately tried to think of a way to distract Crawley. “I lost Bertie,” I told him. “If you could find her and give her back her puppy, I’d be grateful forever.”
Crawley looked disgusted by the idea, which meant they were probably on the outs. Ann-Marie did too, and she came to his rescue. “I put Taylor’s cat in a room off the foyer,” she said. “You can just put Puggy in there and they can play together.”
Crawley looked to me for permission, and I hurriedly gave it. He left to fulfill my last request. Ann-Marie watched him go and turned back to me. “He’s yummy. You’re letting him get away?”
“No,” I nudged her to go after him. “You’ve got to catch him.”
“Jane!” She gave me a furious look that took me aback. “What am I? Do you just think I’m some idiot that you can send off to bug the people that you want off your back? You made me think I had a chance with Austen. I thought you and I were friends. Do you even see me as a real person?”
I felt terrible. The accusation compounded the shame that I was already feeling and I began to realize that I did some pretty stupid things. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
A big smile engulfed her face at my admission. “No, you don’t, but I’m still going to do it.” She rushed off after Crawley, leaving my heart racing at the emotional rollercoaster. I tried to stuff my guilty feelings away so I could worry about them another time. I had a party to flee.
Leaving the laughter and chatter far behind me, I rushed through Maple Grove and dialed Austen’s number. He answered after one ring. “I was just about to call you,” he said. “The target has taken the bait.”
“Really?” I had never felt more relieved. More than before I needed to be justified for what I was about to do. “Who is Bigley flirting with?”
“I can’t see. Just a sec. Let me get closer.”
“Jennings is there, right?” I asked. “She’ll have to take the pictures quick because we have to lead her to where Taylor and Dancey are meeting. But not right away. I want Dancey and Taylor to have a moment first. You know, one of those deep connecting moments where the girl knows the guy loves her and will do anything for her. When their eyes meet and—”
“Uh oh.”
My heart jumped at the alarm in his voice. “What?”
“It’s Junie. She’s with Chuck.”
Austen would never let Junie get involved in this. “Why Junie? Wait, they don’t have something going on, do they?”
“Jane. We don’t want compromising photographs of her with Chuck. She’ll get fired.”
He really cared about her, and despite my misgivings about Austen’s relationship with her, I knew he was right. “Okay, we can’t let that happen.” I tried to figure out a way around this. “Where’s Jennings?”
“No idea.”
“Just throw some sleazy girl at Bigley until I get there.”
“Easier said than …” his voice trailed off. “I just saw Jennings. She has her camera.”
My heart lurched. Junie would really have a reason to hate me now. I hadn’t meant to put her job in jeopardy. “I’m coming, Austen. I’m coming! Figure out a way to stop Jennings!”
I shut off my phone and took off at a run to stop the biggest disaster of my lifetime. The sand attacked my flip-flops and I kicked them off so that I could make record speeds to Churchell’s Shack.
Cigarette smoke filtered through my nostrils as soon as I ran up the rickety wooden steps to the bachelor party. DeBurgy stood near the top stair, puffing away. The guy wore another fitted suit, though he had loosened his tie.
The deep laughter made a huge contrast to Taylor’s party. I looked past the game tables full of cards, empty bottles and bowls of chips. Bigley’s dad was already passed out. Redd watched his heaving chest with pursed lips. Most of the men I didn’t recognize,
but I saw Eddy wandering through the tables, snacking on peanuts and mints. Taylor’s dad was noticeably absent.
DeBurgy blew more smoke into my face and glared at Jennings. Dancey’s publicity manager had sniffed out the paparazzi easily. “A girl at a bachelor party?” He waved his cigarette the reporter’s direction.
Austen was trying to distract her with a big steak. Jennings wore a glorious maroon jumpsuit with a belt at the waist. I had to give it to her; she gave the party some class. This camera was even bigger than her last one.
I tried to search out Bigley in all this mess, and found him standing by the pool. Sure enough, Junie was there and the two talked in low voices. My blood boiled as my suspicions took form. Sure, Bigley had gotten to know Junie when Taylor had taken her to London, but to a blueblood like him, Junie would always be the help. Bigley was taking advantage of her. Jennings peered at them over Austen’s shoulder.
I felt DeBurgy’s hand at my back. “Go work your magic, event coordinator. Avert disaster.”
Bigley reached for Junie’s hand. I ran at him full speed. Jennings lifted her camera and I screamed out, making Bigley jump in alarm. Junie turned towards me, but their hands were still touching. Before Jennings could get any shots off with her camera, I shoved Bigley into the pool and fell in with him. We splashed hard. The water ran past my ears, and I sank to the bottom, holding on to the struggling Bigley the whole time.
I broke out of the water, hearing the pictures go off around me. Bigley splashed beside me. “What was that, Jane?”
My fingers loosed over his soaked shirt and I swam over to the side of the pool. “Just part of the bachelor party fun,” I shouted over my shoulder.
Austen reached for my hand to help me out. “Not quite what I pictured,” he said.
“Me neither,” Jennings said, coming our way. The material of her jumpsuit flapped around her legs like a tent. She cocked a brow at me and gave me a sour look.
I half-expected to see Junie join in with the glares, but she had disappeared. DeBurgy, too. I came out of the water, my hair dripping with the rest of my body. “These aren’t the photographs you want, Jennings.”
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